Dear America, this is a safe space: Why did you follow Robert Griffin III on social media?
I’ll go first.
Believe it or not, it wasn’t his Heisman Trophy-winning season in 2011 or his rise to stardom in Washington that led to me hitting the follow button on @RGIII. Despite covering sports for a living, it takes a lot for me to want to follow an athlete on social media. And one of those exceptions is reserved for the quarterback of my beloved Cleveland Browns.
Make no mistake, I didn’t have high hopes for the RG3 era in Cleveland, even if Hue Jackson said he felt the Earth move beneath his feet during the quarterback’s workout (seriously, that happened). But while my Browns-related pessimism was ultimately validated (per usual), following Griffin on what was then known as Twitter at least paid off in the form of his post following Cleveland’s lone victory of the 2016 season.
Merry Christmas Cleveland!!!!
You filthy Animals!!!!
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) December 24, 2016
I don’t remember many (any?) of Griffin’s other social media posts from the remainder of his NFL career or even his three-year run at ESPN. But it’s been impossible not to notice a shift in his social media strategy since he was laid off by the Worldwide Leader last August. The 2012 Rookie of the Year routinely posted about politics, especially concerning President Donald Trump.
Such posts often follow the same formula: Griffin proclaims his feed a “safe space” before offering an open-ended prompt regarding a topic clearly aimed at driving engagement. The 35-year-old has deployed the tactic regarding the NFL MVP race, Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar, and even Taylor Swift. However, the most frequent topic he’s offered as a conversation-starter post-ESPN has been Donald Trump, especially after he was reelected last November.
After using his “safe space” prompt on a political subject three times — twice regarding last July’s debate between Trump and then-President Joe Biden and once after Biden dropped out of the 2024 election — while at ESPN, Griffin has offered open-ended questions about politics no fewer than seven times since October.
Make no mistake, the former Baylor star isn’t adding anything to these conversations. He merely wants his followers to use his posts as a jumping-off point to discuss matters such as Trump’s plans for the Middle East, his heated exchange involving Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Elon Musk and DOGE.
You know, the type of topics often reserved for a “safe space.”
America, this is a safe space. How do we feel about Donald Trump wanting to get the USA involved in owning the Gaza Strip and going back into a Middle East conflict?
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) February 5, 2025
RGIII’s strategy seems clear: throw out a highly polarizing subject — be it Drake vs. Kendrick or Trump — with the promise of any interactions being as judgment-free as Planet Fitness. While I can’t say for certain that his primary motivation is the ensuing revenue from his premium X subscription, this would undoubtedly be a strong strategy if that was his goal.
As you can probably already tell, I’m not a fan of Griffin’s social media presence, even though I still follow him, so I can sarcastically retweet his “caption this” posts with literal captions. But while I find the idea of asking open-ended questions about real-world topics with real-world consequences in an apparent attempt to drive engagement distasteful, my general mindset has been to live and let live.
What I do have a problem with, however, is RGIII taking issue with others for straying from their own sports safe spaces to dabble in discussions that are political in nature. And that’s exactly what happened on Thursday when the No. 2 pick of the 2012 NFL Draft posted, “Sports shows on TV should be about sports not politics,” in an apparent reference to Stephen A. Smith calling out President Trump with regard to the Department of Defense temporarily removing an article regarding Jackie Robinson’s military career from its website.
Was Smith’s response over the top? Of course. He’s Stephen A. Smith. And while one can question whether Smith was using this as an opportunity to advance his own political aspirations, the reality is that this was a sports conversation — it just happened to also intersect with politics.
After receiving backlash for his post, Robert Griffin III not only doubled down but claimed that Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier wasn’t political, which only led to more backlash. Perhaps Smith should have merely prefaced his comments by letting the viewers know that First Take is a “safe space.”
This tweet is not about Jackie Robinson.
His significance can never and should never be erased.
Breaking the color barrier in baseball in itself is not political.
Jesse Owens winning 4 Gold Medals in itself was not political.
Jack Johnson becoming the 1st Black Boxing…
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) March 20, 2025
While using a meme to reply to his critics, Griffin stated, “I’m not anti sports and politics mixing. Im anti showing up to a barbecue food spot ordering a chopped brisket sandwich and being served Mediterranean food.” Effectively, he’s using the popular strawman argument that most “stick to sports” advocates resort to: it’s not the message he’s taking issue with; it’s that this five-minute segment in a two-hour show wasn’t what he tuned in for.
While Griffin is entitled to his opinion, I’ll simply refer him to the question that I asked at the top of this story: Why did anyone follow him on social media in the first place? I’m going out on a limb and saying that it wasn’t for open-ended prompts about President Trump’s plans for the Gaza Strip.
I’m sure Robert Griffin III would be the first to tell me that if I don’t like his posts, I can unfollow him, and that’s perfectly fair. I’d remind him that he’s also free to turn off First Take or any other sports show that dares to discuss the removal of the Robinson article. Although I suspect that wouldn’t drive the same amount of engagement to his X feeds that his “sports shows… should be about sports not politics” post did.
Is it hypocritical for Robert Griffin III to call out sports shows for talking politics while he posts empty political engagement bait on his social media account?
This is a safe space, America.